2. Definition of Police-Community
Relations
Refers primarily to the relations between the
police and racial and ethnic minority
communities.
From PCR to Legitimacy
Police need to establish trust and cooperation with
all segments of the community they serve
Policing a Multicultural Society
Definitions of Race and Ethnicity
Race – refers to the major biological divisions of the
people of the world
Ethnicity- refers to cultural differences such as
language, religion, family patterns, and foodways
12-2
3. The Major Racial and Ethnic Minority
Groups
African Americans
Hispanics/Latinos
More likely to experience
police-initiated contact
Largest racial or ethnic
minority group by 2010
Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba,
Haiti, Dominican Republic,
Central and South America
Arabs
Very diverse group
Majority trace background to
Lebanon
Most are native-born
Americans
Muslim religion
Native American
Higher crime rate on
reservation
Tribal police
Asian Americans
Vietnamese, Cambodians are
newest immigrants
Immigrants
Primary language is not
English
Report crimes at lower rates
than other Americans
Calls for bilingual officers to
accommodate immigrants
12-3
4. Not Just Race and Ethnicity:
Gender and Sexual Preference
Police-community relations problems also exist with the
following groups:
Women
Gay men
Lesbians
Transgendered persons
Problems of sexual harassment, disrespect, and physical
abuse
12-4
5. Discrimination versus Disparity
Discrimination: differential treatment
based on some extralegal category such
as race, ethnicity or gender.
Disparity: different outcomes that are not
necessarily caused by differential
treatment
12-5
6. A Contextual Approach to PoliceCitizen Interactions
Experiences with police vary according to
department, type of police action, the
departmental unit involved, etc.
Some departments have better relations with
people of color minority communities
Interactions are different according to
location, police unit, and enforcement activity
12-6
7. Public Opinion and the Police
The vast majority of Americans have a positive attitude
toward the police.
Racial and ethnic minorities consistently rate the police
less favorably than whites.
A majority of African Americans (76%) and Hispanics
give the police a generally favorable rating.
Young people rate the police less favorably than older
people.
Poor people, less educated people, and crime victims
tend to rate the police lower than others.
There are significant differences in opinions about the
police in different cities.
12-7
8. Race and Ethnicity
2011 survey showed that 24% of African
Americans had little to no confidence in
police (compared to 6% of whites)
Attitudes about police roles can vary
according to social class, as well as race
and ethnicity
Thus, middle-class and lower-class African
Americans do not share identical attitudes
12-8
9. Attitudes about Police Use of Force
Hispanics and African Americans are
twice as likely to believe the police will use
excessive force in their communities
In a survey of Cincinnati residents, 46.6%
of African Americans indicated they had
been personally “hassled” by the police
Compared to only 9.6% of whites
12-9
10. Social Class
In 2011, 30% of people with incomes
lower than $20,000 had little to no
confidence in police
Compared to 1% of people with incomes
above $50,000
12-10
11. Age: Young People and the Police
Age consistently ranks second to race and
ethnicity as a factor in public attitudes
toward police
A 2011 survey found that 12% of people
between the ages of 18-29 had little to no
confidence in the police
Compared with only 8% of people between 50
and 64
12-11
12. Other Demographic Factors
Where You Live: Neighborhood Quality of
Life
Crime Victimization
Gender
Level of Education
12-12
13. Community Policing
Community policing has a positive impact
on citizens’ attitudes toward the police
A study by Weitzer and Tuch found that
people who believe their police department
engages in community policing in their
neighborhood are less likely to believe that
the police use excessive force
12-13
14. Intercity Variations
There are important differences in public
attitudes among cities that apparently reflect
differences in the activities and reputations
of these departments
The Case of Detroit
• More African Americans indicated they were satisfied
with the police than whites
• African Americans dominated the local political
establishment
• Thus, African Americans are more likely than whites
to identify positively with the police and other parts of
the political system
12-14
15. The Impact of Controversial
Incidents
Specific cases or controversial incidents
(ex: Rodney King beating in LA) can have
a short term affect on people ’s attitudes
toward police officers and police
departments.
12-15
16. Complex Dimensions of Trust and
Confidence in the Police
Priorities: Whether people feel that the police share their
concerns about the neighborhood
Competence: Whether people feel that the police have the
knowledge and skills to achieve their objectives
Dependability: Whether people feel that the police can be
counted on to fulfill their promises
Respect: Whether people feel that the police treat them with
respect
Theory of Procedural Justice: People distinguish between
the outcomes and the process
Ex: People are more likely to be satisfied if the officer explains the
basis for his action, even if the outcome is unfavorable
12-16
17. Three Perspectives on Attitudes
Toward Police
The Police and the Larger Society
The Police and Other Occupations
The Police in Other Countries
Summary of attitudes:
Majority of Americans have positive attitude toward police
Racial and ethnic minorities consistently rate police less favorably
African Americans and Hispanics generally give a favorable rating
Young people rate less favorably
Poor people, less educated people and crime victims rate less
favorably
People who view their neighborhood as safe view police favorably
Community policing has a positive effect on citizens’ attitudes
There are significant differences in attitudes among different cities
People make important distinctions regarding police actions
Attitudes toward police reflect attitudes toward society as a whole
12-17
18. Police Perceptions of Citizens
Sources of Police Attitudes
Selective Contact
• Officers do not have regular contact with a cross
section of the community
• Low-income and minorities have a disproportionate
level of contact with the police
Selective Perception
• Officers are more likely to remember traumatic or
unpleasant events
• Officers tend to stereotype African Americans since
they tend to show the most hostility toward officers
12-18
19. Sources of Police-Community
Relations Problems
Question: How do we explain the apparent
contradiction between the generally favorable
ratings given the police by racial and ethnic minority
communities and the persistence of public conflict
between the police and these groups?
Answer: We must examine specific areas of
policing
The level of police protection received by different
neighborhoods
Police officer field practices
Administrative practices
Employment practices
12-19
20. Level of Police Protection
Too Much or Too Little Law Enforcement?
African Americans have been victims of underenforcement of the law throughout time
Four Systems of Justice in the South during
institutionalized segregation
1. Crimes by whites against whites handled as “normal”
crimes
2. Crimes by whites against African Americans rarely
prosecuted
3. Crimes by African Americans against whites received
harshest response
4. Crimes by African Americans against African Americans
were ignored
12-20
21. Level of Police Protection
Continued
Failures to enforce the law in minority communities
has typically involved crimes of vice (gambling,
prostitution, drugs)
This under-enforcement breeds disrespect for the law
and police
Exposes law-abiding citizens in minority neighborhoods
to criminal activities and lower the quality of life
Delay in Responding to Calls
Studies found that patrol officers often deliberately
delayed responding to calls for service, especially
involving family disturbances
Black citizens perceived greater delays than whites
12-21
22. Police Field Practices
Deadly Force
Source of major conflict
between minorities and
police
Changed significantly
over last 40 years
• Fleeing-felon rule
unconstitutional
• Trend toward defenseof-life standard
Does current disparity
between African
Americans and whites
shot and killed by police
represent systematic
discrimination?
Use of Physical Force
Public Brutality:
excessive use of physical
force by the police
Most common complaint
by minorities
Use of force continuum
Police use force more
often against
• Criminal suspects
• Male suspects
• Black males
• Drunk and
antagonistic
• Physical resistance
12-22
23. Use of Physical Force
Fleeing-Felon Rule: Declared unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court in 1985 (Tennessee v.
Garner), allowed police the legal right to use
deadly force in apprehending a felon attempting
to escape.
Defense-of-Life Standard: States that police
officers are allowed to use deadly force only in
situations where their own lives or the life of
another person are in danger.
12-23
24. Situational Factors in the Use of
Force
Officers more likely to use force against:
Male suspects
African American males
Drunk citizens
Citizens who are antagonistic to the police
Geoffrey Alpert’s Force Factor Framework
Examines police officer behavior in relationship to
the citizen’s actions
If an officer used force where there was no
resistance or threat on part of the citizen, then the
force would be considered excessive
12-24
25. Use of Police Canine Units
Being bitten by a police dog is a form
of
police use of force
Minorities believe police dogs are used
more often against them, and that they are
bitten far more often than whites
12-25
26. Arrests
African Americans are arrested more often than
whites (relative to their numbers in the population)
Officers’ decision to arrest is based on situational
factors
The strength of the evidence
The seriousness of the crime
The preference of the victim
The victim-suspect relationship
The demeanor of the suspect
• Extremely complex
• No studies which determines the extent to which demeanor is
provoked by officer actions
12-26
27. Field Interrogations and Searches
Field Interrogations: Involve a crime control
strategy of both identifying and apprehending
offenders, and sending a message of deterrence
to people on the street.
Young racial and ethnic minority males regard this as
harassment
The President’s Crime Commission found that field
interrogations were a “major cause of tensions
between the police and minority communities”
12-27
28. Being “Out of Place” and Getting
Stopped
Experts believe that a certain amount of
racial profiling in traffic enforcement is the
result of a police officer deciding that an
African American or Hispanic driver is “out
of place” in a white neighborhood.
12-28
29. Discussion: Crime Fighting and
Stereotyping
Stereotyping of citizens by gender, age,
and race is a problem deeply rooted in
policing
Racial stereotyping can affect a police
officer’s likelihood of using deadly force
12-29
30. Other Police Field Practices
Verbal Abuse and Racial and Ethnic Slurs
Language and Cultural Barriers
Discrimination Involving Women, Gays,
Lesbians, and Transgendered People
“Driving While Female”
Abuse of sexual minorities
Bias against young African American women
12-30
31. Special Topic: Racial Profiling
Racial profiling: the practice of police
officers stopping drivers because of their
race or ethnicity and not because of a
legitimate law violation.
“Driving while black”
“Driving while brown”
12-31
32. Traffic Enforcement Practices
59% of all citizen-police contacts involve
traffic stops
Data on traffic enforcement patterns
involve several different actions by police:
Stopping a vehicle
Resolving the stop through an arrest, citation,
warning, or no action
Searching the vehicle, driver, and/or
passengers
12-32
33. Data on Traffic Enforcement
Patterns
National data
Males more likely to be stopped than females
Young people more likely than older people
African Americans and Hispanics more likely to
be searched than whites
State and local data
Meehan and Ponder study found that African
Americans were more likely to be stopped and
queried in predominately white neighborhoods
Location matters
12-33
34. Interpreting Traffic-Stop Data
Benchmark for interpreting data was the
residential population
However, population data do not indicate who is
actually driving on the roads or who is violating
traffic law
Best method is the rolling survey technique
which utilizes direct observation
Another alternative is internal benchmarking (IB)
Compares performance of individual officers with peer
officers
12-34
35. Explaining Disparities in Traffic
Enforcement
“Officers act on the basis of prejudicial
attitudes”
A Contextual Analysis:
Racial profiling occurs in three different
contexts
1.
2.
3.
War on drugs
Citizens who are “out of place”
General crackdown on crime
12-35
36. Police Justifications for Racial and
Ethnic Disparities
Major argument is that African Americans
and minorities are more likely to be
engaged in criminal activity
Some argue this involves circular
reasoning
Minorities stopped and arrested more than
whites producing higher arrest rates and thus,
justifying higher rates of stops and arrests.
12-36
37. The Legitimate Use of Race and
Ethnicity in Police Work
Police officer cannot arrest a person solely
on the basis or race
The police cannot use race or ethnicity
when it is one element in a general profile
of criminal suspects.
The police may use race or ethnicity when
it is one element in the description of a
specific criminal suspect
12-37
38. Policies to Prevent Bias in Traffic
Enforcement
Specific written policy prohibiting racial or
ethnic discrimination
Improve police officer training
Traffic-stop data collection and analysis
12-38
39. Can Policies Reduce Racial and
Ethnic Disparities?
The U.S. Customs Service developed new
guidelines for searching foreigners
entering the country
As a result, the no. of persons being searched
declined by 47%
The percentage of people found with
contraband rose by 65%
Racial and ethnic disparities in persons
searched also declined
12-39
40. Problem Solving on Racial Profiling
Importance of developing community and
police partnerships on racial profiling:
Partnerships foster trust
Partnerships are a valuable avenue for twoway communication
Partnerships can help police departments
reduce the risk of engaging in unacceptable
practices that might result in being sued
12-40
41. Improving Police-Community
Relations
Several different approaches:
Maintaining a representative police force
• Eliminating employment discrimination
Improving the handling of citizen complaints
• Civilian review boards
Creating special police-community relations unit
• For recent immigrants: “newcomer,” “foreign born,” and “nonnatives”
Improving training
• Assigning officers on the basis of race
12-41
42. Special Police-Community
Relations Unit
PCR Units operate programs designed to
improve relations with minority communities
Ride-along programs: allow citizens to spend a
few hours riding in a patrol car
Creation of neighborhood storefront offices to
overcome isolation of the police
Special PCR programs tend to be more
successfully with groups of people who already
have favorable attitudes toward the police
Whites, homeowners, older people
12-42
43. Outreach to Immigrant
Communities
The new variety of languages and cultures
in American cities presents new issues for
police departments
Police departments developing new outreach
programs designed to help establish closer
relations with the police and new immigrant
communities
Largest number of programs are targeted
toward Hispanic/Latino communities
12-43
44. Should Local Police Enforce
Federal Immigration?
Many local police officials do not want to
be involved in enforcing immigration laws
because they argue that policing requires
them to develop close relations with the
communities they serve
The role of immigration enforcement might
alienate them from communities with large
numbers of immigrants
People will become reluctant to call the police
to report crimes, etc.
12-44
45. Race Relations and Human
Relations Training
No research has established a direct connection
between race relations training and improved
police officer behavior or improve public
attitudes
Experts question the value of classroom training
On-the-street behavior and communication may be
more effective
Training in Cultural Competence
Information may help explain cultural differences that
may lead to misunderstandings
12-45
46. From PCR to Legitimacy: The New
Paradigm
Legitimacy: the belief that the police as a social
institution are acting properly and effectively,
and deserve public supports
Winning legitimacy is 2-dimensional
First dimension: involves substantive outcomes:
controlling crime and disorder and providing services
to the public
Second dimension: involves how police do their job:
treating all people with respect, not engaging in
misconduct or use of excessive force
Key difference between PCR and Legitimacy
PCR programs are directed only toward one part of
the community
12-46
47. Community Policing and Improving
PCR
Community policing represents a
comprehensive philosophy of policing and
may better address on-the-street police
behavior than traditional PCR programs
Community policing is directed toward the
community as a whole, and not just racial
and ethnic minority communities
12-47